Blogs

Everything Sunday was supposed to be for the Cardinals – everything the Cards needed it to be – it wasn’t. Bruce Arians called the loss to the Falcons disappointing, lots of players called it disappointing, but more importantly, they were asking themselves why it happened the way it did when they simply couldn’t afford such a performance.

“We didn’t wake up,” linebacker Kevin Minter said. “It was like we were asleep the whole game. We’ve just got to do better, man. Do what got us here, as far as hitting people in the mouth, just playing hungry, playing nasty – play like we are one of the top teams in the league, which we supposedly were until these last two games. We’ve just got to wake back up and get back on this winning train.”

The offense wasn’t good, and we’ll get to that in a moment. But from the time that Steven Jackson – Steven Jackson? – reeled off a 55-yard run on the game’s first possession, it was the defense that simply didn’t do enough Sunday. No, the offense didn’t do enough either, but this year, with this team, the defense is held to the higher standard. The defense will be what takes the Cardinals however far they will go.

Jackson gained 101 yards. The Cardinals never give up 100 yards to a running back. Julio Jones put Patrick Peterson on blast to the tune of a career-high 189 yards, and Harry Douglas added 116 himself – you know, as long as Roddy White was hurt, why not?

The last time the Cardinals gave up at least 100 yards in a game to a running back and two receivers? Way (way) back on Nov. 12, 2000, when Robert Smith rushed for 117 yards, Cris Carter had 119 yards receiving and Randy Moss has 104 for the Vikings. Of course, that was for a bad, bad Cardinals team that went through a midseason coaching change. This was by a defense that not only is better, but when it is playing well is one of the best in the league.

Adversity has come to visit, linebacker Larry Foote said. With four games left – including the last three within the division – the Cardinals have to figure out how to overcome. It starts on defense.

— Stanton did seem to find a little bit of a groove after a very slow start. But the Cards kill themselves over and over. A Michael Floyd fumble here. A Ted Larsen holding penalty there. An incomplete bomb to Ted Ginn on third-and-2. The first thing Stanton talked about after the game was converting third downs, of which the Cards did only once Sunday.

— Andre Ellington said he’ll be OK after his hip pointer – he said it was a different injury than the one he has been dealing with – but the run game didn’t help again. Falling behind so big so early didn’t help, but Ellington and backup Marion Grice combined for just 10 rushing attempts, for just 35 yards.

— There were too many important players standing out of uniform on the sideline during the game – Larry Fitzgerald, Darnell Dockett, John Abraham – to not make you think if all the injuries are starting to catch up to this team.

— The Cardinals do get linebacker Matt Shaughnessy back this week and he can play against the Chiefs. That isn’t a small thing.

— Jaron Brown had his best game, with a team-best seven catches for 75 yards in Fitz’s absence, and absorbed one wicked blow late as he was tackled. Brown was fine with that, he said. He wasn’t fine with the ball that glanced off his hands early in the game, which turned into the Falcons’ first interception. The pass looked too high from Stanton, but to that Brown shrugged off.

“That catch I should have made,” he said. “It hit my hands. Those tips are something we can’t have.”

— Lyle Sendlein, who used to be an offensive captain before Carson Palmer took a foothold in the locker room, is wearing the “C” on his uniform again now that Palmer is out for the season.

— With the high-ankle sprain of Paul Fanaika, it sure looks like Jonathan Cooper will be in the lineup as a starting guard for a little while at least. Even before Fanaika got hurt, Cooper was swapping series with Ted Larsen at left guard. It looked like the effort to reintroduce him into the lineup had begun.

— Arians said he didn’t challenge the 41-yard catch by Julio Jones in the second half – the one in which numerous fans mentioned to me on Twitter Jones only got one foot down – because the coaches upstairs never saw a replay. Peterson was called for holding on the play, but a challenge could have saved the Cards 36 yards if the catch had been negated.

— The punt team nearly was burned on a 70-yard punt return touchdown by Devin Hester. But Hester was called for a facemask while trying to straight-arm punter Drew Butler, and then the Falcons were flagged for another 15-yard penalty for complaining about that call. Cost the Falcons four points in the end (Atlanta later got a field goal). Hester afterward insisted it was a bad call.

— That’s it from 30,000 feet. The Cardinals go back to work tomorrow, trying desperately to right what’s wrong.

65 Responses
to “Some rough Falcons aftermath”

Folks you can give me the thumbs down all you want but 9-7 is looking like more and more of a real possibility for this team finishing the season. Stanton has regressed, no running game and now the schedule gets particularly brutal with KC, Rams on the road and dates with Seattle and SF to finish things.

You can bury the lead, but I saw this coming last week in Seattle. No intensity on offense. No accountability for Stanton. Special teams coach still has a job??? He can’t count. Why does he still have a job??? Hester runs a punt for a TD, and it was a TD.

maybe the “coaches upstairs” should just watch the network televised game. Not that it would have made any difference. It just would have indicated that at least someone had their head in the game, which clearly was not the case.

Lets start with the positives as it is always good – 1) Maybe we help save the Falcons Coaches Job this year which will help us keep our DC next year.
2) These two miserable games were on the road.

That is all I have for the positives now before I lose Darren I have a question for him. Is there any leaders on our team that can get in Patrick Peterson Face and tell him to shut up, man up and play some football because Alabama just kicked your LSU ass all over the field all day long.

Offense 3 points again and 1-7 on third down and get this against the 32nd ranked defense in the NFL. How many teams in the NFL again that right 32. Yeah I know we scored at the end but do you really think that was a real score that would have occurred if it meant anything.

I have sang the defenses praises all year, but that was just horrible defense today. Atlanta did whatever they wanted to do against us.

This was the easiest game remaining on our schedule.

Of course we get a guard injured and it had to be the better one of the two.

Guys I will admit I am angry about this game as it reminded me of Cardinal teams of years past with no heart, and I was hoping we were finally over those games for a couple of years at least so this turkey really really hurts.

I will also admit that if you told me before our first game this year that after 12 games our record would either be 3-9 or 9-3 I would have said 3-9 based upon our personnel loses. Our coaching staff has done a really good no not good, great job so I am going to believe that we get this fixed and still make the playoffs. Every team goes through a low spell or two over 16 games and I am hoping that this is all this is.

Okay Cardinals it is time to wake up and start playing ball again starting now against the Chiefs especially you offensive line and Drew Stanton.

Ugly game. With one offensive touchdown in 11 quarters (and in garbage time at that; not sure we could’ve gotten that touchdown if it had mattered), we now need to be concerned about just making the playoffs, to be honest. Which sounds ridiculous having been 9-1, but this could be another year where 10-6 isn’t good enough, and 11-5 won’t be easy for this team to get to the way we’re playing since Palmer went down. 35 points in 3 games isn’t going to cut it.

Seattle now controls its own destiny as far as the division (as do we, of course, but playing the way we’re playing right now, it’s going to be tough to beat them, even at home.)

Good news is, if we can’t hold onto division, we’re essentially two games up on the two other presumptive wild card contenders teams (Detroit and Dallas), having beaten them both. But considering just two weeks ago we were talking about home field advantage throughout the playoffs, the fact that we now have to be concerned about just making the playoffs is troublesome.

As far as the game, the 3rd and 2 attempted pass to Ginn pretty much tells the story of the game for me. At that point, we’re only down 23-10, we are in Atlanta territory… most important thing is to keep the drive going and come away with some points. I don’t mind going for a chunk play if the guy is open a la Brown with the two over-the-shoulder TD passes he’s caught, but Ginn was well covered, and is probably our 5th best option. We don’t have a simple screen or something that is 70% likely to get 2 yards?

Also, no offense to our defense, but considering how they were playing today, after failing to convert on that 3rd down, I would’ve gone for it. We had visited ATL territory so little the entire game that once we got there I felt we should take our chances. Instead we punted, ATL drove against our defense again, taking 5 more minutes off the clock and getting another FG.

And I’m sorry, Peterson can’t call himself one of the best corners in the game and then have so many games where he’s flat out beat. It’s one thing to get beat on a given play, but he got torched all game. The stat line shows Jones caught every pass on which he was targeted. Not a single breakup in 10 targets? What elite CB allows that to happen?

Lastly, what’s up with the “Cards coaches upstairs never saw a replay” on the one Jones reception? All they needed to be watching was the game on TV. If we don’t have someone watching the same thing that millions of fans are seeing, pay someone a few hundred bucks to watch the game on Fox and give that guy a way to get in touch with Arians for Pete’s sake. When everyone in TV land can see it’s an obvious non-catch and the excuse is no one on the staff saw a replay… well, that’s absurd.

On positive notes, I’m thinking we can defeat KC at our loud home field. They scored only 16 on Sunday. And we should beat the Rams even on a short week. Then, we have 10 full days to prep for Seattle at home… giving time to heal some guys up and clear their heads from this awful run. That game will rock the rafters…!!!

The 49er game at that point will probably be meaningless after they lose in Seattle. We knew all these Div games would loom large near the end of the season. We control our own destiny now.

Cards Fans…I am placing the over//under at 30 for all these games because we really need for Bowles to maintain… If our Offense can produce 16-19 points for these games, I think we can pull out home field. Stanton just needs to become a good game mgr. The Packers will be a concern later..huh?

Rough week for our team. But no need for “the hating” to begin. Remember this. We are still the #1 seed as of now. Coach will correct the things that need to be corrected. No one gave us 9 wins this year. The team earned them by fighting and good coaching. Last time I looked, every team in the NFL has at least 3 losses. So no need to panic. All we have to do is support our guys and let the coaching staff correct what needs correcting. The players will come out next week looking much better. They are embarrassed right now and no real Pro likes being embarrassed. We will win next week !!!!!!

Ever since Drew Stanton suffered that concussion in Denver he has not been the same player. Not saying that is indeed the reason for it, but it’s hard to ignore the drop off after that game.

I’d like to see the guy who performed so well against the 49ers return but I do not see it. He may as well change his name is Drew Skelton, or Drew Hall, if he keeps the recent performance level up.

This is the perfect example why Patrick Peterson was not only overpaid; but also maybe not even a top ten cornerback. He’s a good tackler the best in football but Pro Football Focus has him as 16th and that sounds about right. He’s had some good games, some average games, and some horrible stinkers. Giants and Falcons.

Great corners, much less “the best cornerback in football” do not have multiple stinker games a year. Cro did against Denver and he has had himself a very good season – easily the best corner on this team. He was not great today. But who was?

Drew recent problems are all mental, overthrowing receivers, staring them down like a rookie, and making poor choices. I’m sorry but Larry Fitzgerald or anyone else who comes back healthy? Cannot fix that and it’s just the reality of the situation.

He looks lost, unconfident and at times completely clueless. The Cardinals have had a great season, with all their injuries and there is nothing to be ashamed of, but this team’s Super Bowl chances are over. They may not even win a playoff game. I’d love to be wrong. But they may not even win the division, or even make the playoffs if they keep this up.

I can’t stand this anymore. Why won’t Drew Stanton, Michael Floyd, Ted Larsen, Paul Fanaika & Patrick Peterson play at a higher level?
-We don’t have Carson Palmer this season anymore but we expect at the least, decent performances. DREW STANTON, RUN WITH THE BALL TO GET THOSE SHORT FIRST DOWN YARDAGE, DONT RISK A DOWN BY THROWING A DEEP BALL. YOU KEEP THRKWING INTS AND WE HAD IT.
-When we don’t have Larry Fitzgerald on the field, YOU MICHAEL FLOYD NEED TO PLAY AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL AND BE RELIABLE, HOLD & CATCH COME ON!!!!!!!
-TED LARSEN AND PAUL FANAIKA, CAN YOU DO SOMETHING TO MAKE A WHOLE FOR OUR RBS?. EVERY TIME, OUR RB RUNS INTO THE BACK OF YOUR BUTTS BECAUSE YOU CANT DO THE JOB RIGHT. MAKE A GAP FOR A CHANGE!!!!!!!
-PATRICK PETERSON, you can get all of the #1 WRs for every play for every game. You might be our number one corner but you need to play better. PLAYING MAN TO MAN AGAINST EVERY #1 WR FOR EVERY TEAM DOES NOT MAKE YOU THE BEST IF YOU CONSTANTLY GRT BEAT BY THEM. NOW PLEASE CLOSE YOUR MOUTH ABOUT TAKING ON THE BEST AND JUST PLAY AT A HIGH LEVEL.
THIS IS UNBELIEVEABLE. THE LOSS WAS STUPID AND EMBARRASSING. Our offense couldn’t even move the ball well against a soft Falcons Defense. STEP UP AND JUST PLAY THE GAME.

ARIANS AND PERTERSON EXPOSED;
this coach needs a offensive coordinator, he just know how or when to call certain plays, we were down two td’s in the 4th quarter on their 45 and 3th and two he calls a long pass play down the sideline which was no even close as the ball was thrown out of bounds , then he punted. well folks if he took a shot on third down , then at least go for it on 4th down losing by two td’s for a quick 2 yds. and keep drive going , the man is lost.
Peterson, I posted before the first game , he was average at best, how they could the guy 60 million is nuts.

Why would Peterson not play Jones tight at the line of scrimmage, bumping him in the first 5 yards to throw the receiver’s timing off. That was absolutely painful watching our so called pro bowl caliber corner back get schooled for 4 quarters.

On a positive note, I thought Coop acquitted himself very well today. It seems like Murphy’s Law has been following the team around this year with all the injuries. I’m hopeful getting Fitz back will have a positive effect on the offence. One can only hope!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Some thoughts.
1) Did someone post a couple of threads ago that the Falcons have a bad run defense???
2) Did someone write (or infer) that the Cards had Ryan’s number???
3) I don’t understand why some fans continue to predict that the Cards will score 30 or more points.
4) It will be revealing what Keim says tomorrow about Peterson’s performance.
5) BFD that the Cards scored a TD in the last minute.
6) As I have written before, Keim has done an excellent job of building an outstanding defense; however, if he doesn’t concentrate, in FA and the draft, on significantly improving the O-Line the Cards will remain a team on the fringe of making the playoffs or advancing very far in them.
7) The Cards need a better back-up QB.
8) I see three more losses if the Cards continue to play like they did in the last two games: KC, Rams & Seahawks.

What a sad day today. We have a back up QB that has been struggling for a few games now and he can’t seem to hit the broad side of a barn.. No running game and our D was FLAT today. Where is PP and Co.?? The next games aren’t going to be any easier. Sorry to say we were out played in all phases of the game today. I do hope we can get things turned around by the time the Chiefs come to town and we play the Rams in their house. Seattle & the 40 whiners games are going to be brutal.

It’s just unfortunate really that Stanton doesn’t have more games under his belt, he really plays like a rookie because essentially he is one. He’s got a lot of heart but I think that running this offense with the expectation of a SB and home field advantage is just too much for the guy to handle. That coupled with all of the losses to injury this team has experienced is insurmountable.

I’ll keep watching this board and the games but I’ll probably step back a little from commenting for a while because I don’t have many positive things to add to the board at this time and that doesn’t help anybody really.

Hey Darren I’ve noticed the last 2 games when on defense we have 3 timeouts & they are not used? Whats up with that cant Bowles call a timeout when players are winded or just to stop momentum & regroup? Are the specifically held for offence?

This doesn’t look like it’s going to be a pretty end to the season. In this league you can only go as far as your QB is able to take you. Stanton playing from behind is just a recipe for disaster, I knew this game was over in the first quarter. Teams have completely exposed him; they are able to stack the box with 8 or 9 guys and make him beat them in the air.

Stanton really lacks in the cerebral aspects of his position, which is pretty shocking for someone who has been in the league as long as him (albeit without much playing time). And of course there are plenty of accuracy issues present also, evidenced by that second, atrocious interception. Boy, does he sure love staring down his receiver. If I could tell where he was going to throw at home, I’m pretty sure the DBs could as well.

We have to make some changes to the running game to get it going, don’t know if that entails more double TE sets, end arounds, etc. Something just needs to be done to keep the LBs drawn in.

Atlanta doesn’t exactly have a scary front seven, Kansas City on the other hand.. yeesh.

Patrick Peterson wasted his breath this past week touting his skills. He was so bad. I am so tired of him running his mouth. He has 5 PD’s all year. He has had 3 great games, but he is no where near the player he believes that he is…and the league knows it. He isn’t even the best CB on our team. He might not even be the 2nd best CB on our team! I don’t want to type this stuff, but I am tired of his mouth!

Drew Stanton went against one of the worst defenses in the NFL. He too was so bad. He is a back up, and the past few weeks proves he will likely never be anything more. I like the guy, and will give him several bad games simply due to the fact that he beat the 49er’s, but he is out of his league as a starter.

Are we honestly going to be the team that goes from 9-1 to not making the playoffs??? I would normally say, “Hey, at least we’ll have a killer pick this year in draft”, but we won’t actually! 9-7 will maybe get us the 18th pick!

Dockett, Fitz, Washington, Palmer, Shaughnessy, Abraham, Ellington, Mathieu, Niklas, Zastudil, Dwyer, etc. We have found the bottom of the “Next Man Up” well and I don’t like it. It is a scary and lonely place where fans go to cry and playoff hopes disappear faster than Jaron Brown forgets how to catch. Honestly, the Cardinals looked like Rob Housler led a clinic on catching the football, while John Skelton gave a clinic on accuracy.

Now I am simply wallowing, but did the Rams really score 52??? We are dead.

The sky is falling. We are 9-3, and the sky is falling. I would love to be the voice of calm, but I am not capable.

The interception bug is real. Just ask Jake Delhomme. Why Stanton became an interception cripple after throwing just one against the Lions, we will probably never know.

Maybe he throws interceptions all the time in practice. Maybe he just lost all of his confidence after waiting so long to step into the starting role. Maybe he just got too comfortable being the back up.

Whatever the reason, the reality is painfully obvious. All the cliches in world are not going to change it. Drew Stanton is not going to lead this team into the playoffs.

This isn’t the time to hope for change. This is the time to change hope by doing something courageous.

Tomorrow BA and Keim can try and save the season; or they can try to BS us with cliches. No one said it was going to be easy. Nothing worthwhile ever is. A division title, home field advantage, a first ever home field super bowl, a new generation of Cardinals fans… isn’t that worth taking some risk?

First off the Cards should get that guy in the photo here with the TV camera he is huge !! I think Skelton was better than Stanton at least he went 6-1 in 2011 and he also beat SF. Take out the Seattle disaster and coaching ( Whiz is not cooking it in Tenn) and I think he was better, he played with a much worse line in 2012. Stanton just seems rusty, god help us if Lindley gets put in so half a dime a dozen. I cannot understand why Lindley is back, I will always remember the Jets game.

I see five major issues with the offense that need to be addressed ASAP!!

1. They need a run game, 2 yards a carry is just not cutting it, creating havoc for Stanton on every throw. “Andre Ellington is horrible”

2. Stanton has to work on his accuracy, both Interceptions were a result of bad throws.

3. Our offensive line needs to open up the pocket, it’s closing way too fast for Stanton to have time to find a receiver.

4. Our receivers have to stop dropping/fumbling passes that are thrown right to them “I am talking about you Floyd/Brown”

5. Our take shots downfield mentality was lost today, Bruce Arians didn’t try a long play but once and by then it was too late.

I also see five flaws the defense must fix!!!

1. Live by the blitz; die by the blitz. Blitzing on every other play against good Qb’s is just not working. I like Todd Bowles but blitzing on every other play is just getting too predictable, and is not helping out our corners.

2. Patrick Peterson is not that great of a corner. Julio made him look like an amateur out on that field today. The Cardinals need more consistency from his position.

3. We have to stop giving up the big plays. It seems every game our defense makes stops when points are on the line, but have consistently given up plays of 60+ yards a game.

4. Tackling, I’m going to be light on this one since it has been good most of the year. Today was a different story. Too many missed tackles, they need to work more at this.

5. Safety’s are on the field for a reason, use them to help the corners, blitzing just ain’t cutting it anymore.

My prediction for the rest of the season!!!

I honestly love Bruce Arians, in my opinion I see him winning a SB as a head coach one day. That being said our Cardinals are between a rock and a hard place. First we loose Dockett, then Shaughnessy, then Calais for a few weeks, then Palmer, then Larry, now Ellington and Mathieu. The Cardinals are the team of tough luck, and they have been dealt the weakest “cards” in the deck. Stanton cannot replace Palmer, and our defense while good is not going to win us games if our offense cannot deliver at least 24 points. I had high hopes but with the loss of Palmer, our team lost not only a leader, but a playmaker.

We will win at most two more games making us 11-5, at worst 10-6. At 11-5 we clinch a wildcard spot and get knocked out first round to either the Eagles, or the Falcons. At 10-6 we don’t make the playoffs, and the season can be considered a injury related failure.

Patrick is in huge denial!!!! and I quote “the pressure didn’t get their but I still need to cover my guy” WOW he gets burnt and still gives the partial excuse that the line didn’t get their! How Vein is this man. (correction) immature is this man!
And the squiggly on his head???? really? When you get whooped you get whooped say you got whooped and move on! Don’t ever make partial excuses you get over paid to tell the truth! Does he really think we cant read between the lines and hear his excuses or his delusional blames on other factors? TSSS what ever as long as we have a QB that telegraphs his targets with his eyes, and cant even make a 7 yard pass to save his life and as long as we have immature players making excuses we are doomed!

QUESTION: When Bruce said look in the mirror did he mean him as well?
I cant believe im saying this…But Put Ryan in.. at least our O scored some points when he played!!!!

When a team loses good/great players, sooner or later it catches up with you. Unfortunately, the Cards are experiencing it at a time when the season is on the line. KC, the Lambs, Shehawks and Whiners will give them all they need and more. The team is playing with a backup QB, an extremely weak running game and the load put on the “D” is starting to take its toll. I hate to say it, but having seen it all too many times, the Cardinal Jinx is still alive and well. The team ends up 9-7. All the great effort the ownership, management, coaching staff and players have put in cannot defeat the powerful Big Red Jinx.

Wow. Poor performance all around. Stanton looks lost, the D for sure looked lost and our O is missing. BA said play smart why didn’t he call plays that were smart today. Need to get Stanton on a bootleg out and throw or run for that two yards today, throwing deep was not the answer and Stanton should’ve not have thrown it. Don’t play scared play smart well our team didn’t do either today. Stanton needs to step up his game but I will blame the coaches and players for not stepping up today as well. This was a entire team loss, special teams, Defense and Offence!! BA said look in the mirror , I hope he is the first to look in the mirror.

We’re now seeing why Stanton wasn’t a starter elsewhere. He doesn’t have it. Every time they cut to him on the sideline, Tom Moore is looking at the tablet, but Stanton isn’t paying attention. Look at him when he came off the field after interceptions, he had a smirk on his face like he didn’t care. That’s the problem, he doesn’t look like he cares or has passion for the game. He is not the future, let him go.

I really don’t understand why BA didn’t put in another QB at the end of the game. It was pretty much over with 4 minutes to go. If BA is soooooo interested in keeping Fitz healthy, he should have had the same for Stanton. This would also give the backup Logan Thomas some experience. I’m a firm believer that if one man isn’t playing well, put in someone else. I believe the team is losing some confidence in Stanton. I thought he had potential to get better but how much but there’s not much time for the status quo.

Stanton put into a position where he is overthinking everything and feeling the pressure. The pressure of the Superbowl, the pressure of a new child. The pressure of a bad performance against Seattle, now Atlanta.

Stanton needs to step back, take a deep breath and focus on the little things. Otherwise, he is going to overthink himself out of a job. Pressure is handled by the great quarterbacks and it breaks the average ones. It is decision time for Mr. Stanton.

I’m hoping he gets it all together and plays within himself and his ability.

Again, the predictability factor is kicking in. Time to completely change the play calling. Teams know that you’re running to set up the deep pass. Time for the offense to run run run and dink dink dink. Might shock the critics. Maybe the taller and stronger armed Logan Thomas can see over the offensive line and get this done.

Please read my previous comments and posts…
1-PP is over paid and i’m wondering why they re did his contract before his contract was up? Would they have paid him that much money with sych a crappy year he is having? In fact he is the worst CB on this team and we have the most money invested in the worst CB on the team
2- i siafd that Ellington would get killed by constantly running him up the middle and what happened?
-The cardinal D is overrated becasue they can’t play a bse defense and have any kind of pressure on the QB

Not having Fitz and his leadership on offense is a big deal..and what has happened to Floyd? Coop did look good..on first downs, don’t run when there are 8 in the box..and throw when there are no deep defenders

Thankfully, I did not see the game. I am surprised. Despite our shortcomings on offense and our return game I thought we would handle Atlanta with ease. How did Ryan throw for so many yards? It baffles me. I have read your posts and I share your disappointment and concern going forward. We don’t have any easy games remaining and it is entirely possible that we finish 9-7. But I also remember the 2008 season when we finished 9-7 and got to the Super Bowl. I remember losing to the Patriots 47-7 in December that year and we looked awful. Things turned around for us. Hopefully we can forget about yesterday’s game and play much better the rest of the way. We’ll see. One thing we had going for us in 2008 was our offense. We need to find one soon if we are going to do anything. And I think our play-calling needs to improve almost as much as our players need to. Maybe Cooper can help and maybe Bush can help because I know one thing….we need help. Keep going.

The defense is allowed to have these types of games. This offense constantly puts this defense in horrible positions. We have had ZERO progress in the offense ALL year. No run, average to below average passing, and bad special teams. This is an offense in it’s second year so, there are no excuses for bad execution. I can’t believe BA was actually considering Staton as the starter before Palmer got here. Until there is real progress on the offense, this team is going nowhere.

Wow! Please don’t trample me in your rush to jump over the side and abandon ship. 9-3 and tied for first in the NFC and a game ahead in the NFC West and the Cards fan base believes we have no hope and we’ll lose out the remaining games to end 9-7? Maybe that’s what being a fanatic is all about – everything has to be great or it just stinks. Ever been knocked down in a fist fight and have to get up to go win? Losing is part of being a winner – better now than later. There is no success like failure and failure is no success at all. Better buckle up all you naysayers, we’re in for a rough ride and that goofy guy with the glasses and the headset is slamming the pedal to the metal (I can’t believe we’re even fallen to complaining about his calls!) and the calm guy I used to watch slaughter people as a Redskin Safety, he’s sending the house. Anybody in your life ever look at you and say, “Don’t give up” ?

Wow! PP shut up! Yer soo f-ing good…why the f weren’t you up in JJ’s face pressing him physically! Press coverage! Disrupting him & the timing right at the line!!!

“BA you said everyone needs to look in the mirror” You’re right & it starts w/you!

What the f were u thinking? I mean 3rd & 2 at their 45 down by 10 or was it 13…
Your defense is struggling…they need a blow & a regroup…as usual, you go for it
deep, instead of something high percentage to just move the damn chains! With an offense that is not in sink… you “selfishly” put your defense in a bad position!!! Just move the damn chains 3rd & 2 down by 10 when the Defense is struggling!!! Maintain your Offense!!!

And where was the towel??? As bad as PP was getting toasted… he needed your help as a coach! Every Card fan watching knew JJ’s 35 yard reception was out of bounds!

I said last week “name a team in the entire league that hasn’t had a stretch where they look awful”. Every one of the top teams have.
Stanton has not played great, but no run game and just average at best O-line how could he. Some bad passes sure, but dropped balls also.
I thought Grice looked pretty good considering his limited chances and poor blocking. Where was Taylor?
Don’t give up the ship. This is NOT THE SAME OLD CARDINALS!! This organization is much better.

Wow, where do I start??? I have been sick all evening! Today’s game is the worst
under the BA/Keim era! It sure reminds me of our past…With that said, I’m gonna try & be positive first. I know it looks bad right now but realistically Cards fans…Did any of us really think we could lose Carson Palmer for 5 games & be 9 & 1…Seriously!
This team has given us thrills that we haven’t had since Kurt Warner!!! I honestly think we all were drinking the Kool Aid so to speak & now finally reality is coming to call…My point is, think back/clear the slate…do I need to list ALL of the players
this team has lost this year to injury or whatever? Next Man up??? Really?
In perspective, its lucky we got this far…

I’ve already ranted on BA & PP…Its well past time for Michel Floyd to step up as well!
Somebody earlier said Drew Stanton hasn’t looked the same since the Denver game & his concussion… think it was Red Dead Redemption, I totally agree w/you! I’ve also felt like he’s just not moving/flowing within the pocket like he was back in Sept/Oct…If you focus on any of the big plays early on/for that matter even w/Carson at QB…the big plays, the 3rd & long completions etc…whether it was a 3step, 5step, 7 step drop…he was flowing back in sink w the flow of the pocket!
Then stepping up into the pocket & throwing a dime! Now he’s not! And it looks like many times he’s trying to get the throw up & over the line play & back down
to the receiver & it aint working! No Flow! No sinc.

No matter how bad that was, it’s no reason to abandon Drew and go to Logan Thomas (we saw how that worked out in Denver) or Ryan Lindley. I feel REALLY bad for Fitz and Dock who had to be going through a special kind of Hell on the sidelines, impotent to contribute their skills and knowledge of this Falcon team and it’s players, but having front row seats for the slaughter. This was a trap game I have been afraid of all season and hope EVERYONE including BA will write on their mirror “Pride commeth before the fall” and then work overtime to execute basic skills like blocking, tackling, catching the ball and PROTECTING IT! Perhaps the offense needs to volunteer to put in extra time with Drew. EVERYONE needs too dust off their A game and get back to work! This did not look like the same team who beat the 49ers or the Cowboys or the Eagles and who put up a decent fight against the Broncos. I hope the front office is realizing what a major contributor Fitz is to this team and will quit their stink’n think’n trying to find ways to work without him.
Shannon..many of us have been supporting this team 20 or more years and were once again HOPEFUL that we were having a rebirth of the 2008, 2009 years; “bandwagoners?” I think not! You say you are a coach and I have to wonder what kind of coach does not look for accountability in it’s team (including coaches)…I think we, as longstanding fans, can expect the same. A “loyal fan” does not have to buy into the party line or be a cool-aide swilling idiot!
Everyone “talked” about “doing better” and learning from our mistakes but now it’s time to back up that talk with some corrective action. We have to win this game against the Chiefs (who are also better than their record reflects despite the absence of an aerial game) and defend our home. Perhaps a win would put some bounce back in our step 🙂

You guys a bunch of bandwagon fans? So negative! Sorry we lost, but can we really blame Arians? He tried his typical shot down the field on the 3rd and short, and Stanton severely overthrew Ginn. That play was Stanton, his mistake. Why he didn’t go for it on the 4th is relatively simple: The game was out of reach by that point. Defense wasn’t about to go out and stop Atlanta like we’ve been able to count on them to do so far this season. He punted, and saved the field position (albeit, they still scored. If he had gone for the 4th and didn’t get it, you’d all be saying he picked the wrong play. Running game was dead, and Stanton overthrew the short patterns all game. I highly highly doubt they would have converted.)

This is a joke. Not once in all these negative comments did you see anyone mention all the injuries. Ellington (He started off good. He would have had a great game. Needed his athleticism out of the backfield on screens and in the flat. Grice didn’t cut it sadly, but he did try), Mathieu (Hurt the secondary, Tony Jefferson is a good player, but the Falcons were just dominating the entire time), and Fanaika. Putting a not so confident like Cooper in at that point of the game was just not going to benefit much. He did open a couple holes for Ellington and Grice, but again, the Passing game was the primary because of the being behind two possessions.

Peterson got burned, but he’s obviously matching up against an elite player the entire game. He’s still an elite corner (Nobody remembers he stopped the Russel Wilson bomb for a touchdown last week. Kept the game in reach for another possession with that play.), why is everyone jumping on him so quick? Man, have some faith in our players. He shut down Dez Bryant, and shut down Calvin Johnson. He wasn’t healthy early in the season, he personally beat the Rams, pretty much by himself in the end. Sure he got beat yesterday, but it wasn’t from overconfidence (Trash talking is fine. Next time he wont get beat, happened last year with C. Johnson.) Something else in Peterson’s defense, did anyone mention time of possession? Falcons had the ball for almost 40 minutes of the game. That means the defense was out there for 40 minutes of the game. Didn’t get a break, and the more plays that are run, the higher chance of letting up the big yardage toss. Everyone can admit that even if the Seahawks went in to Atlanta yesterday, there was no was that Atlanta was to be stopped. They wanted the win badly, and played die-hard. Have some faith in the players and quit thinking the grass is greener with Sherman. You forget, Seattle has a great safety always backing him up… Lost ours with Mathieu injured. Can’t tell me it wouldn’t have changed the outcome. No pressure on Ryan either by the blitz. He had too much time, and in 1on1 coverage, if he isn’t pressured in time, he’s going to find the man open! Negative fans quit repeating the Fox announcers and analyze the game please, before you say a bunch of garbage you’ll regret.

It was a rough loss to a terrible defense yesterday. Offense didn’t score points. Put up nice passing yards, but if no TD’s at the end of it all, well… That’s how you don’t win games. High powered passing offense, that 55 yard run… It just was a bad setup with all the injuries (I MEAN THE STAR OFFENSIVE PLAYER HAS BEEN ON THE BENCH. Go Fitz!).

Only four games to go, playoffs and first seed still in sight. GO CARDS! 🙂 We can do this, Arians and Keim have transformed this team so much. Next season, the playoffs will be hit so hard by the Cards, that it wont even be funny!! All the pro bowlers will be back, and with the depth… Looks forward to the offseaon just to see Docket back leading the defense. The man makes a huge difference out there, he would have got pressure yesterday, can guarantee it.

Too many injuries, Stanton is a good fill in relief guy, but not a Palmer. Palmer kept this team alive the same way the defense does at times and whithout him and a running game it’s a no go. I still think we can win 10-11 games but we played like total garbage and it’s hard to see anything good coming from the last two miserable losses.

I feel like we have an asset that we really don’t use to his potential…I realize BA
doesn’t use full back sets, & that’s not what I’m looking for here…On the ‘Rare’
occasions when I get to see Robert Hughes in the backfield… I mean the guy is punishing to tackle when he runs! I question why BA doesn’t use him more in the classic NFL “Thunder & Lightning” style in tandem with Ellington…especially early
on in games where Hughes could soften up a D-line & then Ellington could fly by!
I mean yesterday was an example of what I mean…Our vaunted defense looked tentative “to put it mildly,” to tackle Steven Jackson…I hear were looking for another RB & yet we have guys on this team not being used??? I have not been impressed w/S. Taylor but in the little usage of Robert Hughes… I know, I for one would certainly like to see more of him!
Thanks!

I was truly surprised by the lack of intensity by Cards D…didn’t see 29 coming, even with the INTs and fumble…but road games often can be the egg that gets laid, recall NE getting punked earlier in year? Happened to SEA too.

The bright news Sunday was guard Jonathan Cooper. Many commenters have called him a bust; that he was not worth the draft pick. He outplayed the rest of the offensive line yesterday and has found himself after a series of unfortunate injuries. It is never wise to overreact and assume the worst. I am happy for Coop. He will only get better.

shannon robinson….i doubt that many are giving up. a fan can have concerns, even doubts, and still be a fan. even when we were 9-1 there were concerns, mainly because we were not overpowering anyone. and now injuries have set us back yet again. we have four tough games left and not one of them is a “gimme”. i hope we can re-group, get healthier and find a way. but i think any chance of getting more than one home game in the play-offs is probably gone and that seriously reduces our chances of hosting the superbowl, something that seemed at least possible a couple of weeks ago. but, as pessimistic as i am at the moment, i remain a fan.

Someone else wondered if Cro wouldn’t have been a better choice for covering Julio and I was thinking the same thing. Reminder to all those fans who think that the players get to choose their assignment…WRONG…that is a coaching decision.
So, while it’s expected for the player to take the blame…and they are the natural fall guys for the fans… it does come down to the fault of the the game managers.
BA knows Drew’s skillset and is can work plays best suited for him and the offense and Coach Bowles should know his players and who they will best matchup with. This loss belonged to everybody but most especially to the coaching staff.

My God, where do you even start??? Couldn’t run the ball worth a damn. Again. Only this time, it wasn’t against Seattle or Detriot. It was against a very bad run defense. HOW do you account for that?

We’ve stopped RB’s like DeMarco Murray, LeSean McCoy, and Marshawn Lynch but 49-yr old Steven Jackson goes over 100 yesterday. HOW do you account for that?

Without Fitz, NOT A SINGLE WR on this team has stepped up to fill the void. Not one. HOW do you account for that?

I could go on, but…what’s the point, you know the rest.

Losing to Seattle IN SEATTLE was one thing. Even though the score was not close, there were signs of the team with the NFL’s best record to be seen. It was excusable. It wasn’t a total “Oh, S*&#!” moment. But yesterday? Against THAT team? Um…yeah, that was a total “Oh, S*&#!” moment.

Even with all that we have lost, a loss like that should never have happened. The sky was NOT falling a week ago. I think it is now. There are enough games left to get the ship back on course. But I think the sky ( merely falling at this point ) starts hitting the ground around us if next week is another no-show game and another one-sided loss. And, really, is anyone thinking this team is gonna handle the Chiefs next Sunday??? The way they have played most of the last 3 games???

I’m not even gonna hope that Philly can take out Seattle next week ( in Philly ). Because that is completely irrelevant at this point. If the Cardinals cannot do any better than what we’ve seen for most of the last 3 weeks, nothing matters because they would be total road-kill for any team currently heading toward the playoffs in the NFC. And, as we found out yesterday, that includes the 5-7 Falcons OR the 5-7 Saints.

And how sad is THAT, considering that we have beaten most of the teams currently heading toward the playoffs in the NFC???

And Patrick Peterson? Don’t even get me started. After ALL the fuss he made about being the best / highest paid CB in the league in the off-season and then what he said about Jones leading up to the game on Sunday….could anyone look like a bigger jack-ass than him right now??? Way to go, Peterson. Unfortuantely, we ALL have to share in the embarassment you have created.

VERY disappointed and literally stunned to see how lifeless and unprepared this team was yesterday. Sorry – I love me some Bruce Arians – but THAT speaks to coaching. Two weeks, ago Arians’ name was everywhere in discussions of Coach of the Year. Right now??? There would have to be serious doubts. Yesterday, I was expecting this team to be focused and ready to handle a team they are clearly better than ( AREN”T THEY??? ). Next Sunday? The coaches need to redeem themselves as much as any of the players do.

To a point I see several times on this blog – WHEN is someone in this organization going to get into Peterson’s face and tell him to stop sounding off and start playing? Whether it’s a Fitz, or a Palmer, or a Dockett, a coach, or the GM – who is going to call this guy out? The more he talks the worse it gets. His ego is out of control. His Cy Young Award analogy seemed to imply that he didn’t get it. I have to admit – I hugely dislike the guy, and that’s because I hugely dislike egomaniacs who can’t back up what their mouth proclaims. If he backs it up, I have no problem. I’d love to see someone in this organization step up and get him under control. To the larger point – this season isn’t “lost,” but any big hopes are basically stamped out at this point. I predict they will lose all three division games, and a win over KC this weekend is iffy at best. That puts them at 10-6, and my feeling was this was a 9-7 team at the start of the year. Time to start thinking about how to fix this QB situation going forward; Palmer will most likely not return, and Stanton is a backup for a reason. It’s going to take a big fix.

Darren…
You missed my point. I wasn’t saying that Cro had a great day, just thought he possibly COULD HAVE BEEN more effective on Julio because of his long arms, etc. It doesn’t matter anyway. .Basically, fans feel the need to bag on someone so Peterson and Stanton seem to be logical targets when, at some point we have to look deeper at the men behind the players.
I don’t think I could stomach watching the video again…and, I saw this coming, sorry to say.

First of all, I had already told my son watching the game with me that if they didn’t make it on that 3rd and 2 play, I’d go for it. We needed points on that drive. So no, I wouldn’t be criticizing Arians if he had done so, whether successful or not.

Second, your defense of not going for it makes no sense. “The game was already out of reach at that point.” What? It was 23-10 and there was still more than a quarter left. You say you highly doubt we would have converted because our running game was non-existent and Stanton was terrible, but we only needed 2 yards and we were in Atlanta territory. That’s precisely the time to take a chance. Especially when, as you say, the defense wasn’t stopping Atlanta. If we felt we had a strong chance of a 3-and-out by punting, it’s a different story, but we weren’t stopping them yesterday.

You play the game to win, not to avoid getting blown out. Going for it there gave us the best chance to win.

The more money you make, the more accountable you become. This would be a sufficient enough reason for at least some fans to get mad when the person being paid handsomely is not performing. But what makes it worse is when the athlete has a big mouth and doesn’t follow through.

To be fair, I’m sure Peterson was voicing his opinion that he was the best so he could be paid like the best. But he can’t just take the money and not expect to have his play severely critiqued. These things go hand in hand.

I’m sure we can blame some of his poor play on the inability of the defensive line to draw pressure. However, as it was stated by the analyst on the broadcast and a couple of people on this blog, Peterson could have “at least” tried to disrupt Jones at the line of scrimmage to throw off the quarterback’s timing.

Don’t know what you’ve been reading but there has been PLENTY acknowledgement of the injuries. Your name is not familiar to me, so I don’t know if you are new to the blog. If so, welcome. But as a daily participant, I can tell you that the injuries have certainly been given their due consideration over the course of the season.

BigAl –

I’ve been a big supporter of Stanton’s and I fully acknowledge that he has been disappointing the last few weeks. But I disagree with some of your analysis. First, the long pass for the TD to Brown against the Rams? Well, he sure moved pretty good in the pocket and delivered a laser downfield on that play, didn’t he? And as I’ve pointed out a hundred times by now, how is Stanton’s job not being made a lot harder by the total lack of a running game since he got the starting job back? C’mon. And the TD pass he put right on Jarron Brown’s hands against Seattle that was dropped? Stanton’s fault? Really? There was nothing wrong with his accuracy on that play. Floyd giving up the fumble yesterday just as the offense was starting to roll a little? Was Stanton supposed to run downfield to recover it?

Darren has said and I agree wholeheartedly, that since we know Stanton is NOT as good as Palmer and CANNOT do what Palmer can, this thing has to fall more on the defense for the rest of the season. Stanton is certainly good enough to BE good enough to guide the team to wins IF the rest of the team is taking care of business to a certain degree. Yesterday, the defense imploded and on offense, the running game and receivers were not helping carry the load. And the O-line was certainly a culprit in the in-ability to run the ball. Special teams have BEEN far less than special in several games this season. Drew Stanton cannot be expected to somehow over-come ALL OF THAT and win games.

I’d be a lot more inclined to blame Stanton if we’d held the Falcons to 14-17 points ( which HAS been the average we’ve been giving up ) and Stanton threw 3-4 INT’s that killed all of our scoring chances. That was not the case.

Forgive my poor wording, I was up most of the night haha. I was more trying to find a reason as to why Arians didn’t go for it. Personally, I was shocked he didn’t. Considering it though, I highly highly doubt if they would have converted. Would feel better today if they had tried, but yeah, might have felt worse knowing they couldn’t get two yards.

It’ll get better. It has to. If not, we are almost guaranteed playoffs next year. Offense will be back, Defense will be stronger then ever, Arians will find another great D-coordinator. It’s looking good for us. Considering what poor seasons we’ve seen in the past 10 years (couple bright spots, yes) I would definitely call this season a success.

I’m not sure if anyone has mentioned this but the play that really bothered me yesterday was on a screen pass to Jones in the 4th quarter Peterson stopped running on the play and have up a big game. I’m sure he thought the play was going elsewhere but for a guy who got abused as he did all day that was unacceptable (and I usually like PP).
He did something like this in another game last year where he stopped running and there was a loose ball fumbled right at his feet that was recovered by the other team.

I think my comment section always is longer and more boisterous after losses. That’s this season, that’s 2012, that’s all the time. People usually don’t have a ton to say when things go well in life. It’s when things go bad that everyone wants to chime in/has an answer.

Georgiebird — We are still waiting for that list of 400+ nfl players who abuse their women. That was truly your most ignorant post from your female perspective on the Rice situation…a surprise even from you…. Please clear this up and clean it up… later…

I see a lot of well written, smart comments. But one thing everyone seems to be missing is the injury issue. ….
…
The strength and conditioning coach is a serious issue. This guy directly affects your IR list. I have no idea why we replaced the best S&C coach in the business. …
…
The “next man up” worked for awhile, but its becoming “no men left”. I have a an inkling to believe that coach hired “his guy” instead of the “best guy” for S&C…..
…
I think he’s the best coach we’ve ever had… but he really screwed the pooch on this one…
..
I’ve never seen a more desperate injury situation in my history. 11 starters down.